File Photo Faux Pas?

There's a downside to using old (file) photos as this Morning Star newspaper story proves.

OK, maybe this is nit-picking.

But Al Cotsworth--shown at left in the photo below--has retired.
Long ago, actually.
So stating that regional politicians and civic staff have completed the overhaul of the Greater Vernon Master Water Plan, which now has Interior Health's approval, is the wrong photo to use after such a monumentally long and tediously-choreographed (by GVAC politicians) process.

Morning Star photo...stock file photo

After years of review, not without controversy from residents, the article states "It is a more affordable plan that will meet provincial standards and ensure the utility is sustainable into the future".

More affordable?
For whom?
Residents?
or Greater Vernon Water?

"...ensure the utility is sustainable into the future" is the clincher.
We residents know what that means.

"...continual increases in water rates that see people looking for homes elsewhere in the Okanagan," Kia would've said.

So, yes, an old photo is the least of residents' problems.
The North Okanagan will keep the distinction of having the highest water rates.

Interior Illness?

Seeing the 65-page remuneration report for Interior Health employees could actually make a person ill.

At first glance, one might believe that all those pages encompass the entire province's employees...but nope, that's just Interior Health!
And it was for the year ending March, 2015, a full 15 months ago.

There's segregation (if you can call it that), between two classes:  those making under $75,000, and those over $75,000.  The following snippet shows Wages in the first column, the second is Expenses.



Holy crap!

Almost a billion dollars in wages!
Grand total $928,588,950!

The head of the local health authority, Roger Parsonage, had wages of $121,004 plus $9,191 in expenses.

So how many health regions are there in British Columbia?

Take your pick.  There are either 10 health regions in B.C. or 20 (areas within regions).
So are there ten 65-page reports out there?
Or 20?

So that nearly billion dollars was only for Region 8, the Interior Health region?

"I don't think I want to know," gulps Kia.

Poor public purse.

 

When the "Medicine" is Worse than the Disease

We've all heard those brutal TV commercial warnings related to pharmaceuticals..."may cause liver failure, temporary loss of sight, loss of balance, incontinence..."

Makes me wonder why anyone would ingest the stuff.
Or why doctors would prescribe it (but that's another story entirely).

But that's the way of LLC, limited liability companies, who seek to have the public volunteer to become the company's test subjects...this time (with the LLC designation) without the responsibility of being sued for the often accompanying unacceptable and debilitating effects of the medication. 

It's not a big leap to move from medicine to water treatment.

Let's consider water disinfection and its byproducts (DBPs).

"Adding chloramine to the water supply may

 increase exposure to lead in drinking water,

 especially in areas with older housing...

this exposure can result in

 increased lead levels in the bloodstream,

 which may pose a significant health risk."  Wikipedia^.

Disinfection byproducts are the "medication" that results from treating a surface water system, most notably Dangerous Duteau, (Jan.31/15 blog story), even though Mission Hill treatment plant also treats water (but not often from the Duteau source).

The "medication" may be

 worse than the disease...(unfiltered water)

If Greater Vernon Water officials and bureaucrats don't appear to care, one would think--indeed hope--that Interior Health would care what DBPs we're exposed to as they're mostly carcinogenic.
But that's not the case...just as long as the water utility is "heading toward a 4-3-2-1-0 treatment regime".

The "medication" may be worse than the disease.
The disease is unfiltered water!

Consider chloramine, used as a disinfectant for water because it's less aggressive than chlorine and more stable.

But look at the risks of using it to treat water.
Especially if you live in an older home...

"Such compounds have been identified as carcinogens and in 1979 the United States Environmental Protection Agency began regulating their levels in U.S. drinking water.
Some of the unregulated byproducts may possibly pose greater health risks than the regulated chemicals.
Adding chloramine to the water supply may increase exposure to lead in drinking water, especially in areas with older housing; this exposure can result in increased lead levels in the bloodstream, which may pose a significant health risk. 
The bottom half of the Wikipedia link is most interesting.

 

"Does the water utility care for those customers who live in older homes?" asks Kia.

Ya think?
They'd get off Scot-free (even without the LLC) by asking if we use Teflon-lined pans.
 
 

Erin Brockovich Discusses Trihalomethane Risk

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich was the mid-show guest on HBO's Bill Maher show on February 5th.  The 5-minute youtube segment is here. 

Watch it even if strong language offends you!

I saw the 2000 movie that bears her name and admit to feeling a tad smug that we in Canada--especially here in the North Okanagan--didn't have those problems.

How naive I was then!
I trusted politicians and bureaucrats.
That didn't last long based on subsequent experience with politicians and bureaucrats.

Erin's unique style quickly led to the culprit(s):  she bluntly stated that Flint Michigan's water problems--and those of many other communities that treat surface water--are directly related to "corrupt politicians and f-----g greed."

Back to the North Okanagan.

Greater Vernon Water frequently state they're averse to issuing Boil Water Advisories due to excess turbidity at the Kal Lake Source.  Yet they've done sweet nothing about the severe risk of Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic acids which--at Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant--see levels that enter our homes' taps that exceed maximum allowable health standards.

And exceed those standards frequently, regularly, alarmingly!

Of the many, many web-based data that are available, this one shouldn't be missed.

The American Environmental Protection Agency lists these disinfection byproducts (DBPs) as pollutants, and regulates them accordingly.  Wiki link here.
When DBPs exceed allowable levels, public notification is required.

Has anyone ever received a Do Not Drink notification from GVW due to the alarmingly high levels of disinfection byproducts at Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant?

No!

"Erin would hate the water that the Duteau Creek Treatment Plant sends to homes," offers Kia, adding "courtesy of Greater Vernon Water."

Maybe Erin wants to do a trip north.

Second SAC Meeting Disappoints

Overall, the meeting was disappointing.
It lived up to its billing as a review of data that formed the 2012 Master Water Plan, with the same consultants and staff, albeit with appointed SAC members and a public gallery. 


Thursday's Stakeholder's Advisory Committee meeting at RDNO began with a one-hour presentation by Interior Health's regional director of health protection, Roger Parsonage.

Roger provided the example of Kamloops and their water treatment plant (which--it was previously rumoured, and remains uncorroborated--was built entirely with government funding in 2005).

In a nutshell, Mr. Parsonage minimized--indeed contradicted--the fear mongering of Greater Vernon Water regarding filtration about issuing a filtration Order as the second--crucial--part of the Multiple Barrier approach to source water protection.

The scientific reason for a multiple barrier against pathogens (protozoa) is simple.  Chlorination alone has little, if any, effect on Cryptosporidium and Giardia, especially during higher turbidity events (seven events since May, 2012, and two plant "downtimes").   E. coli bacteria are present only in humans and other warm-blooded animals.  Some protozoa are human parasites, which can lead to many illnesses (Malaria, Amoebiasis, Giardiasis, Toxoplasmosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Trichomoniasis, Chagas disease, Leishmaniasis, Sleeping Sickness, Amoebic dysentery, Acanthamoeba Keratitis, and Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis,) according to Wikipedia.

To the question from a SAC rep "can filtration be deferred for, say, up to 20 years?" Roger Parsonage paused, then replied flatly, "No".  But that filtration deferral may occur as long as a plan is in place to enact a multiple barrier approach, AND that it also depends on source water test results.  He assured SAC members that Interior Health--province-wide--does NOT have different rules for different areas.  It is the source waters that are different.

The clincher here was "as long as source water quality tests find little variation," which obviously makes the Duteau Creek source waters--rife with wildlife/domestic cattle, as well as recreationists, neither of which have been excluded by any government agency.

(Blog opinion:) A community's Water Supply should be declared a Priority User over all other use, including public use, but that hasn't occurred in the Aberdeen Plateau's highlands!  For example, in North Dakota officials have managed to somewhat separate "legal water rights" from "priority of use" (intent) of waters.  The priority North Dakota established was:

• Domestic
• Municipal
• Livestock
• Irrigation
• Industrial
• Fish, wildlife and other outdoor recreational uses

Back to Roger Parsonage's presentation.

To support the trigger for the multiple--two-stage--approach, he stated that Interior Health has access to Medical Services Plan classifications where doctors' billing to the provincial health plan defines the class of the ailments.  IHA looks for "intestinal" complaints which "indicate a level of endemic illness occurring in a community".

To the question posed by a SAC member "could the 'intestinal' classification also include non-water-source reasons?"  (A good question, and presumably the questioner meant pre-diagnosed Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis, etc.).

To that question, after another brief pause, Roger Parsonage replied "Yes, it could."

Next were ~2 hours of disappointment.

Disappointing rehashing by three consultants of spurious and now known to be hugely inflated water demand numbers (obviously given them by GVW bureaucrats to develop the MWP) that not only determined the size of the water treatment plan at Duteau, but also led to the decision to minimally separate agriculture--from domestic--lines.

One after another, consultants justified work based on projected water demand, seldom if at all referencing now-known actual consumption, year after year on the MWP.  

As the following table shows--to which consultants are now privy--the sheer immensity of over-projected numbers (percentage) versus actual consumption must make them shake their heads in disbelief...privately, that is.

Courtesy:  G.Kiss

And agricultural (allocation) demand versus domestic, extended to a 40-year horizon:

The consultants one after another stammered through huge projected numbers, each year never met by actual demand, culminating in "2011 metered domestic was 7205" (versus the stated 9,670).  Dale McTaggart, engineering boss at RDNO, said agricultural irrigation's actual remains at 12-13,000 a year.  

Seems they have a classification for the disparity too:  the difference is called a buffer.

So how accurate could the following GVW document be...it itemizes some classes of water use that previously were lumped into one category, or weren't previously reported at all in any classification,  likely hastily produced in reply to a 2014 question (this table finally splits ICI from the Domestic category):

Is it any wonder that numbers are all over the map?

Another disappointment was the lack of support for a Motion from Terry Mooney, of Citizens for Changes to the Master Water Plan, to move TM9 to an earlier slot, perhaps November 19th or December 3rd (the extra meeting date).  The rationale for the Motion was that its Options were felt necessary to review earlier than the projected date of December 17th.

While Mr. Mooney's suggestion lacked support, GVW's TM4 Summary Paper provided silent support for the CCMWP motion with its reference to "Methods, point 3, the model 'scenario' used Option 1 of TM9 (no further pipe separation for Agriculture)."
 

"A buffer?" asks Kia, adding "Get me a Bufferin please."

Note:  Google definition defines "buffer" as:  a person or thing that prevents incompatible or antagonistic people or things from coming into contact with or harming each other.

Google must've been present during MWP consultations. 

Acclaimed Mayor is Part of the Problem

So why quote him after the $70 million water referendum in the North Okanagan fails?

Why not interview Coldstream Councillor Gyula Kiss, whose spearheading of the Master Water Plan's opposition--as the only elected representative (and scientist) on the plan's technical committee--received support from the electorate?

Opposed to the plan were 7,918 residents, while 3,999 voted in favour.
Virtually two-to-one.

But noooooo, Vernon's Morning Star today quoted Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick as saying "There will be work going ahead...staff will meet with the Interior Health Authority on the results and get feedback from them."

That's not what 7,918 residents want.

Jumping with both feet into the hole he himself helped dig, Mayor Garlick added "The overall number of $70 million was the problem."

No, the overall number was not the problem, Mayor Garlick, although $70 million was a close second on the list of taxpayer complaints.

What people want is that no chlorinated water be used for irrigation of acreages.
And they sure as hell don't want chlorinated water--today used for irrigation of acreages--to also be filtered, which is what the $70 million borrowing referendum included.

"Garlick shouldn't give up his day job," sniffs Kia, adding "he'd never make it as a clairvoyant."

Not representing his constituents seems to have become Mayor Garlick's strong point.

"A pity that Victor Cumming didn't reside--and run for Mayor--in Coldstream," adds Kia.

Yup.
Six hundred twenty-five votes separated Cumming from candidate Mund for Vernon Mayor.

Councillor Kiss' Stance Corroborated by Five Mayoralty Candidates

Frankly, it's high time that Gyula Kiss' long-held opinion on the amended Master Water Plan received stronger support than that received from his own mayor--Jim Garlick of the District of Coldstream, who is also a Greater Vernon Advisory Committee member.

Councillor Kiss has been stalwart in his condemnation of Greater Vernon Water's plans for a $70 million referendum this November.  His educated and reasoned opinions were this week corroborated--indeed vindicated--by all five candidates vying to be Mayor of Vernon.
All five will vote "No" in the referendum.

This blog has featured Gyula Kiss' stance on the topic:   June 28th story here and April 9th story here and February 7th story here and June 27th story here and October 9th story here and March 8th story here.  And more.

The five candidates in Vernon have obviously listened to neighbours and residents.

Acclaimed District of Coldstream mayor, Jim Garlick will again likely not support Councillor Kiss' relentless pursuit of a peer review for the plan...he certainly didn't push very hard when he had the opportunity.
Actually, opportunities.
Also silent on the topic are the District of Coldstream's candidates for councillor positions.

"The referendum will receive assent from a few engineers at Greater Vernon Water," forecasts Kia.

What really ticks people off is the continual fear-mongering by engineers at GVW that "Interior Health could order the work" (if the referendum fails).

After almost a year of silence, an Interior Health official last week stated that wasn't necessarily going to occur.

 

It's refreshing indeed to hear candidates for political office share residents' opinions--versus that of the majority of elected officials (except Councillor Kiss) on this topic.

 
At least for now...until bureaucrats begin chipping away at successful candidates.

Letters of Significance

Occasionally, letters to the editor offer interesting and reflective opinions.
Letters in yesterday's Morning Star were a welcome break from the customary litany of lint.

The first is from Dana Mills:

"I find the current master water plan presented to Vernon and district taxpayers to be very limited in scope and lacking innovative thought.

The Regional District of North Okanagan and Interior Health Authority are telling you to borrow $70 million because the need is exigent, but what's really needed is time for a much more critical review of the actual situation.

I can't understand why RDNO and their "experts" are so adamant about separation and large, single or dual treatment facilities as opposed to a more distributed approach.  It appears that the existing treated water from the Duteau facility is actually pretty good most of the time.

By removing chlorination and other disinfection from there, the water would be cheaper and could still be used for both agricultural and domestic purposes without significant changes to existing infrastructure or operations.  The Duteau plant is more than what's needed but the point is, it's already there, in operation, and paid for (sort of).

With minor system upgrades, a few simple, small-scale facilities could then be installed to finish the treated water already available.  The water would then be potable for introduction to your various domestic distribution systems.

Primarily, these would be disinfection stations to provide a barrier and a residual to inactivate pathogens.  Trihalomethane (fact sheets here) problems, if you really have any now, should actually go away due to reduced dosage and contact time.   Industrial and agricultural users could easily filter and disinfect on-site if required; a lot already do.

That still leaves the turbidity event problem.  It seems to me that turbidity guidelines from the existing Duteau plant are exceeded for only a couple of short periods during each year, and these events generally fall outside times of heavy agricultural use.

I think RDNO could deal with these events at an operational level by using a different, unaffected source and maybe drawing down the potable water stored in existing reservoirs.

In other words, turn off the Duteau water available to domestic users until the event is over and the turbidity levels are again acceptable.  If you do not actually use turbid water for drinking water then you are not technically violating IHA demands.  This should allow RDNO at least a decade to develop a much more cost effective master water plan, and there's no harm in asking IHA for a variance either.

I know, I know -- fire flows, etc. would be affected but these are just excuses.  Also note that treatment plants in a box are already available.  A number of world class companies are making some very good products and a lot of research is ongoing to make treatment more environmentally friendly.

Please seriously consider other options and vote no in the upcoming referendum.  IHA is not going to risk a public relations nightmare by immediately forcing you to spend the money anyway.

Don't be swayed by RDNO scare tactics -- your water is already safe.  I was raised in Vernon and my siblings and 85 year old mother still reside there.

They tell me Vernon is becoming a very expensive place to live."

Dana Mills 

"Hear, hear!" applauds Kia, adding "Coldstream councillor Kiss requested a peer review of the new master water plan, but was denied.  He wasn't supported by RDNO--nor, for that matter--his own mayor, who waffled under the power of the advisory committee and regional district."

 

The second letter is from Donna Lochhead:

"If I could change some things in this city, I would start at Vernon city hall.

Ya ya, I know all of you folks out there that would say the cost to change would far outweigh any savings we would see but...

1. Smaller buses would use less fuel.  Less fuel, more economical, and perhaps fewer traffic jams in the downtown core at peak periods.
2. Stop sending fire trucks out every time an ambulance is called only to have them turn around and head back to the fire hall because they are not needed.  Less fuel, more savings.
3. Pay firemen one rate when they are actually putting out fires and another when they are on call waiting at the fire hall.  I'm sure you would find savings when you look at their salaries versus calls.
4. Put some money into the not so pretty arteries of this city.  Update ancient (I'm not even calling it old anymore) infrastructure.  It's the stuff you can't see that needs the most work.  Spend less on road calming, road diets, pretty roundabouts and more on sidewalks, sewer and water lines.
5. Go back to the clear bag recycling.  Put the people back to work that lost their jobs at the recycling depot and help the environment by not driving.  Now that Christy Clark and her gang have implemented this new recycling (without any dialogue with the public), I'm waiting for her to raise the gas tax because we now have to drive to the recycling depot to drop off what we use(sic) to be able to leave curbside.
6. Find opportunities to work with developers on affordable housing and business leaders on creating jobs.

Do we need more million or half-million-dollar homes carving up the hills?  We need affordable homes and some jobs so that young people can afford to buy them.

Oh boy, what if?"

                                         Donna Lochhead                                                            

"Disagree with the suggestion for an 'on-call' fireman rate... ambulance attendants get only $2.00 an hour while sitting in the station waiting for calls...nobody can raise a family on that pittance," states Kia.

What's that maxim about ratios of letters received?

Something about...for each letter...thousands (who did not write) concur...

                                              

"We're being screwed"

That's what a resident said at a public meeting on the Master Water Plan and the upcoming $70 million borrowing referendum in November.

And that's the sentiment of the majority of residents as they discuss the area's water woes.

Councillor Kiss of Coldstream hit the nail on the head when he said that Greater Vernon Water needs to justify building the Duteau Creek treatment plant--whose customers are 80 to 85 per cent crop irrigators.  Otherwise the $29 million construction cost--$12 million of which was paid for by the Federal government--would've been wasted money, n'est-ce pas?

It's hard to believe anything that comes out of Greater Vernon Water...taps.
We'll soon all be irrigating not only with chlorinated water, it'll be filtered too.

Manager Marcolin said the $70 million referendum, if passed, would see the average water bill climb by about $36 a year or an extra $180 by 2019.

Wait a minute. 
The average water bill?
Water bills arrive every 3 months, so four of 'em a year.
So since she said "a year", that would mean the average water bill would increase by $9.00.
(where is that doubtful icon when you need it?)

Yet an $180 increase five years from now, following the above assumption, would in 2019 then mean either $45 more per water bill...or if the amount quoted as per bill, would mean $720 more a year.

All of which was followed by the thinly-veiled threat that the Interior Health Authority could order the water utility to proceed with the work, even if the referendum fails. 

In other words...careful what you wish for, folks, is what Greater Vernon Water appears to be saying.

GVW has an insatiable appetite for revenue, that's certain.

Greater Vernon Water's insatiable appetite for revenue

"The desertification of the North Okanagan continues unabated," muses Kia.


We've gotta start getting more answers by finding all the people that have managed that facility over the last 10 or 15 years...(Stamhuis-architect of the previous master water plan that's been shelved; Badke, Cotsworth)...it seems they're Managers for a couple of years, then (poof) presto, they're gone.  No responsibility, no accountability, no liability, no justification.  No truth.

The only aspect that remains the same is the consultants who designed the system.  They're the same.

"If only Brian Harvey--the former VID manager--were still around," offers Kia.

Lone Voice Drowns in Water Debacle?

Seems so anyway.

District of Coldstream councillor, Gyula Kiss' letter to the editor today is worthy of attention--indeed alarm--despite his omission of how to fix the water debacle in the North Okanagan.

Seems somebody spent a crapload of our money doing things wrong.
With more that needs to be spent just to satisfy Interior Health's filtration demand.

"Imagine the public reaction if we would spend 90 per cent more...they (public) would be furious."

  DoC councillor Kiss

So how did we get to this point?
Even Kiss doesn't place blame on decision-makers.
He apparently knew all along that the master water plan had cracks, but we can only surmise that it was Mayor Garlick who didn't give councillor Kiss the authority--until recently--to be at the decision-making table.   (See October 19th posting here, and June 28th posting here, and March 10th posting here).  And one more from Councillor Besso, in a letter to the CBC.

So who the hell was at the decision-making table?
Some dummkopf that shouldn't have been on the committee in the first place?
Likely several dummkopf...

But--in my view--unless you know just who did what incorrectly in the maze of the North Okanagan's bureaucracy, you won't begin to understand how to prevent costly foibles from again accumulating...one upon another...and another.

Was it the city engineers?  If so, we can fix that.
Or the consultant's engineers?  If so, we can fix that.
Or the consultant?  We can fix that too.


Kiss' letter today:  (highlighting:  blog author)

Water Plan History Detailed:
"Master Water Plan 2002 (MWP 2002) was produced 12 years ago.  It was going to revolutionize our water distribution system.  The plan recommended total separation of domestic and agricultural water.

MWP 2002 would have cost water customers $72 million ($5,040,000 annually for a 20-year period).  No need for the Duteau Plant as all crops would have been irrigated with raw water.  Only one treatment plant would be needed.

Two years later MWP 2002 was basically trashed.  Addendum 2004 was produced.

This Addendum was a total reversal of MWP 2002.  It was a return to the old VID model with mixed domestic irrigation water delivered in the same pipe.  The irrigation water was now more expensive.  The $28-29 million Duteau Plant's annual debt servicing cost is about $2 million.  Treatment cost in 2011 at Duteau Creek was $1.7 million (for a combined annual cost of $3.7 million).  Domestic customers only used about 1.5 million cubic metres in 2011 of this expensive water.  The remaining 80 per cent of domestic water was supplied by the Mission Hill (MH) plant.  (Blog author:  The Federal government contributed $12 million towards Duteau Creek's construction).

The MH treatment plant was upgraded to double its capacity and provide additional treatment by way of ultra violet irradiation.  Cost of the upgrade was $7.5 million (annual financing cost is about $525,000).  In 2011 treatment costs were $625,577 for a total annual cost of $1,150,577.

Using the above figures, MH water was costing about $0.25 per cubic meter, Duteau Creek's water about $2.14 per cubic meter.

If all of the domestic water was treated at MH, the total cost of treatment for all domestic water would have been about $1,600,000 instead of the 2011 combined cost of about $4,900,000.

This huge expenditure did provide some benefit to the DC customers.  However, there are many more who have absolutely no benefits.  I will use my situation as an example.

My water source prior to 2002 was Kalamalka Lake (KL) from the Coldstream Creek Road pumphouse.  It provided me with chlorinated KL water for which I paid about $0.56 per cubic meter.  In 2013 I paid $1.83 per cubic meter for DC water which is the same quality that I have received from KL:  chlorinated DC water.

To date Greater Vernon Water has spent ~$67 million on MWP infrastructure.  The referendum of 2004 only approved a maximum of $35 million.  We spent $32 million above the approved maximum.  Imagine the public reaction if we would spend 90 per cent more on the referendum-approved sport fields at the college site.  They would be furious.  Yet there was no public outcry about the 90 per cent overspending on the MWP referendum funding limit."  (Blog author:  so where was council's 'united' outcry????)

"The simple reason for this overspending was the fact that there was no set plan.  Requests for little projects of $2 million here, another project for $2.5 million there till we got to a point where the consultants and staff were basically stuck with the over-sized DC treatment plant.  The sad thing is that the $67 million is only a down payment.  The newest "plan" is proposing an additional expenditure of about $111 million.  This would include two filtration plants to the tune of $57 million (judging from previous experience a whole lot more).  Even with this additional investment an estimated 9,000,000 cubic meters of filtered water would be used for farm and orchard irrigation.

That is more than the total domestic consumption, all at the domestic customers' expense.  It would also create a triple distribution system:  one for domestic use only from the MH treatment plant, one for raw water distribution to some agriculture properties and one for a mixed agriculture/domestic use.  This is the system that would use the filtered water on crops.  You can read more on my blog:  "coldstreamernews".
                                  Gyula Kiss, Coldstream councillor


And, perhaps oblivious to further dullling the public's now-numbed sense and sensibility, this article from the same newspaper issue:


"Referendum taps into $70-million water plan, R.Rolke:

"Greater Vernon residents are being asked to fund big ticket water upgrades.  The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee decided Thursday to ask voters in November to approve borrowing up to $70 million for phase one of the master water plan.

'I have read all of the technical reports and I believe we are getting a fair compromise by keeping costs down as much as possible but meeting the requirements the Interior Health Authority keeps putting on us," said director Mike Macnabb.'

"Directors Bob Spiers, Gyula Kiss and Maria Besso voted against the motion, largely because the plan includes $26.5 million for filtration at the Duteau Creek treatment plant.

'I am not convinced Duteau filtration should be part of the package,' said Spiers.  'It should be at Mission Hill, where 80 per cent of the people get their water.'

"Besso pointed out that much of the Duteau water goes to farm crops and not residents."  'We are going to put filtrated water on agricultural fields and it will be a waste of money,' she said. 

"But Dale McTaggart, general manager of engineering, says there is more pressure to meet regulations with the Duteau system and the IHA has initiated orders to force the matter.

If the November referendum were to fail, direction would be sought from IHA.

'They may order us to do the work," said McTaggart.

"In terms of crops receiving filtrated water, Macnabb insists IHA sets the tone for any work."

'We have no control over some things like the future requirements of IHA,' he said.  'They may say that every drop of water, even agriculture, has to be treated.'  (Blog author:  and Macnabb seems OK with that, with nary a squeak of disgust!)

It was suggested by director Bob Fleming that IHA is driven more by reducing potential liability than improving water quality.

'Filtration is dubious at best.  We provide good water,' he said.

Other aspects of the water plan's phase one are $6.4 million for Aberdeen dam improvements, $9.9 million for domestic distribution investments, $19.5 million for separating domestic and agricultural water in Lavington, $3.5 million for twinning a transmission main and $2.6 million for an Okanagan Lake pump station."

"The moral of the story is don't trust Addenda," offers Kia, donning the Clint Eastwood expression, "hang 'em high."


Maybe Gyula Kiss should speak French...would he get through to them then?

And where's Mayor Garlick in all this? 
It's the mayor that appoints councillors to committees and they report back to council, and to him directly.

Wishy-washy mayor, especially when it comes to the really important stuff.

"He's probably mapping out another bike path," defends Kia.

Kudos--albeit long overdue--to Michael Stamhuis, the architect of the sensible Master Water Plan.
The plan that's now in tatters.
He should've carried a very big stick.

Invisible Reporter?

Richard Rolke, reporter with the Morning Star, wasn't even there.

Coldstream Councillor Kiss stated that NO media were present at the Thursday, June 13, 2013 Water meeting at the Regional District.
No newspaper, no radio.
Nada.

So where'd this Morning Star story come from three days later?
Or, perhaps more to the point, who wrote it? 

Richard Rolke
"Greater Vernon residents will have a say on multi-million-dollar upgrades.

A petition process or referendum could be held in the spring or in November 2014 to determine if there is public support to borrow funds for the $111 million master water plan.

"It's important for the politicians to allow the public to weigh in on this," said director Jim Garlick.

The initial borrowing could be for $68 million and Garlick says there would be an awareness campaign leading up to any vote.

"The public needs an opportunity to understand the plan and the Interior Health Authority requirements."

A negative vote, though, may not mean borrowing or the project have stalled.

"If it's not supported, there is the opportunity for IHA to step in and order it to be done.  They could order us to borrow without (public) consent," said Garlick.

Option 2 provides for filtration to be provided at the Duteau Creek treatment plant for $26.5 million and at the Mission Hill plant for $30 million. 

There is also raising the height of the Aberdeen damn, an Okanagan Lake pump station, distribution improvements and separating irrigation water in Lavington from domestic use.

The scope of the plan covers until about 2037.

"The master water plan is being brought on us because of IHA requirements to have more safety built into the system," said director Bob Spiers.

"Water rates will definitely be impacted.  You will see a doubling of rates in eight to 10 years as they are calculated now."

The plan does include pursuing senior government grants to try and offset the cost.

"I hope the province and the feds will come in with their one-third, one-third (funding) as they have in other places, said Spiers.

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee has recommended the master water plan (26 pages of VERY interesting reading) to the Regional District of North Okanagan board, which will consider approval June 26.  The document must also be ratified by the Interior Health Authority."

"Maybe it's ESP reporting," offers Kia. 

Whoever wrote the story, the fact remains that $111 million is going to be borrowed and spent on the water system upgrades.  Residents will have a say, but those results mean nothing, as the Interior Health Authority is demanding filtration of domestic water.  And since the recently constructed Duteau Creek Water Treatment plant (it's so new, they're still calling it NEW) today serves domestic and irrigation customers--without separated (twinned) lines--filtration will occur there as well as the Mission Hill Water Treatment plant.  

Other options were considered by the same consultants (who recommended building the Duteau Creek Water Treatment plant), and the directors (politicians).

Several options would've resulted in water consultants and politicians being ridden out of town on a rail -- right after being tarred and feathered. 
You can add the Interior Health Authority to that rail trip, as they bring no money to the table regardless of which option is followed.

Why?  Because it would be proof that the Duteau Creek Water Treatment plant should never have been built.  Raw water should serve irrigation customers in Lavington.  Chlorinated and filtered water should serve domestic customers, the majority of whom live West of Coldstream/Lavington.

That would leave the Mission Hill Water treatment plant for domestic filtration, with the bulk of twinned lines occurring off the single-piped lines at West Coldstream.  The relatively (in volume comparison to irrigation usage) small number of domestic customers in Lavington?  Probably cheaper to buy 'em all a reverse osmosis unit!  Maybe a combination of filtration and sand filters? 

Whatever happens, three things are certain:

• Residents will pay, pay, pay, pay.  And pay!

So what're the second and third things?

• We miss Brian Harvey, former manager of the Vernon Irrigation District more than ever!  His common sense and logic would've prevented (indeed, eliminated) all the wasted money so far.

• We'll wish Al Horning of the Black Mountain Irrigation District in Kelowna had resided in Vernon.  He was instrumental in many aspects of their state-of-the-art system.  He not only got grants from government, he and his group enlarged their water source and kept rates half what ours are today.  Today their water system even produces electricity for the hydro grid!  

No such luck here.

"No such people here," muses Kia, "but we do have invisible reporters."